Category: Moto GP

1. Pata Honda to test ‘speed gene’ at Jerez‏

   Posted on 8:45am Thursday 3rd Apr 2014

   The Pata Honda team has announced the introduction of a nepotistic youth policy designed to enhance development and ensure continuity of its world championship racing programme.

   On tomorrow’s third and final day of the World Superbike championship test currently taking place at Jerez in Spain, regular riders Leon Haslam and Jonathan Rea will hand over their Honda CBR1000RR SP racing machines to their respective young sons. Despite being less than a year old, Max Haslam and Jake Rea are deemed to have inherited sufficient quantities of the so-called ‘speed gene’ to warrant a full test on the sophisticated production race bikes. The Pata Honda crew has lowered the ride height on both CBR machines and engaged the services of a goo-ga translator to record feedback from the would-be young racers.    

   Leon Haslam    

   It’ll be interesting to see if young Max has got it. The ‘rocket’ that is, which is coincidentally what me and my dad have on our salad when it’s in season. I reckon he’ll be fast though – he’s got a bit of a weight advantage.       

   Jonathan Rea   

   Jake was born a month or two after Max but we’ve been weening him on Manx kippers to build up his strength. He had a wee go on my CRF450R motocrosser on the Isle of Man, so I had to clean up the seat after, but he’ll be right.        

   Pieter Breddels -  youth development manager    

   With world championship racers seemingly getting younger every year – just like policemen, really – we’ve decided that we need to start investing in youth. Jonathan’s father raced and won a TT and Leon’s dad was pretty handy, too, so it absolutely HAS to be a genetic thing. If it’s not, we’re going to look a bit silly, but the lads will have had some fun.        

2. Positive Spanish test for Pata Honda SBK

   Posted on 10:20am Friday 28th Mar 2014

   The Pata Honda World Superbike team has completed a private three-day test at the Circuito Cartagena near Murcia in Spain.

   It is the first time that riders Leon Haslam and Jonathan Rea have ridden their new Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP machines since returning from the opening round of the 2014 World Superbike championship at Phillip Island in Australia one month ago.

   The pair used the test to continue development of chassis settings on their CBR machines, as well as refining power delivery and traction control. They will stay in Spain this weekend and move further south to Circuito de Jerez for another three-day test which starts next Monday.

   Round two of the World Superbike championship will also take place in Spain, at Motorland Aragon on 11-13 April.

   Leon Haslam
   
   Yeah, I’m happy with this test and we were able to make some good progress with the overall CBR package. We tested a new swingarm and some other chassis settings and we’re still waiting for one or two other elements to come through. We also worked on traction control which is a lot better now and to go 0.3s under the circuit record was a good way to finish. We’re going to do a bit of cycling before heading down to Jerez and we’ll see what the weather brings us down there.

   Jonathan Rea
   
   We’ve made some really good steps here and our test rider, Michele Magnoni, did a really good job over the first couple of days, especially on Wednesday when it was really windy. I rode with some new strategies that he was developing and I’m happy to be able to ride more aggressively on longer runs. The speed over one lap was good, too, but I was more satisfied with the longer runs. We also tried a lot of chassis settings, varying pivot points and things, and the bike is definitely steering better on tighter lines.

   Pieter Breddels
   
   It’s been a really good test. I can’t really say much more. Apart from the really strong winds on Wednesday, the weather has allowed us to get through a lot of work and both Jonathan and Leon were able to go faster than the old lap record here at Cartagena. Apart from the chassis settings, we concentrated on throttle opening and getting the traction control to catch slides more predictably. I think both riders are feeling a lot more confident about that. We have three more days testing at Jerez next week but, at the moment, the weather forecast is not looking too good for that, so I’m glad we got this time at Cartagena.

3. Ace Cafe News - Win a Night Out with Steve Parrish!

   Posted on 10:00am Saturday 1st Feb 2014

   Ace Cafe London has a pair of tickets up for grabs as a raffle prize to spend an evening with Steve Parrish on his forthcoming "Mad Tour", a funny and informative evening, hosted by his daughter Frankie Parrish, and which opens on 12th February at the Beck Theatre, Hayes, Middlesex, and subsequently on the following dates:
   
   13th February - Melton Theatre, Melton Mowbray
   20th February - Playhouse Theatre, Harlow
   23rd February - Courtyard, Hereford
   28th February - Bacon Theatre, Cheltenham
   2nd March - The Muni Theatre, Colne
   
   Steve, currently the BBC commentator for Motor GP, raced at the highest level of motorcycle racing, becoming the British Champion in 1976 and 5th in the 1977 500cc World Championship, his team mate and that year's champion, Barry Sheene is quoted as saying "If he was to set up his bike as well as his victims and had put as much effort into the bike as he did the intricate pranks he pulled on people he would certainly have been a World Champion".
   
   Spend £5 or more over the counter at the cafe from 6pm on Friday 7th February and receive a raffle ticket. Draw to be held at 10pm.
   
   www.madtour.co.uk
   
   For more information about what's on at the Ace, click on
   www.ace-cafe-london.com
   ___________________________

4. Carl Fogarty takes to the track for 899 Panigale debut

   Posted on 8:19am Monday 21st Oct 2013

   Four-time World Superbike champion wows Brands Hatch crowds in exciting on-track display

   World Superbike star and Ducati ambassador Carl Fogarty led the first ever UK laps for Ducati’s brand new ‘supermid’ 899 Panigale. The bike, which was unveiled for the first time just two weeks ago in Imola, took to the iconic Brands Hatch GP circuit for it’s first demonstration on British soil, with Fogarty leading round the 2013 Ducati TriOptions 848 Challenge champion Marty Nutt and runner up Jonathan Railton.

   Adding to the drama of the BSB Showdown finale, the trio of new machines was chased around the track by a police-liveried 1199 Panigale.  Despite its extra power, there was nothing the bigger bike could do to catch the agile 899 on the damp circuit, and several riders have already confirmed they will make the step up to 899 machinery for the Ducati TriOptions Cup in 2014.

   The 899 Panigale will be available in UK Ducati dealerships from next week. For further information and to find your nearest dealer visit www.ducatiuk.com

5. Van der Mark fourth in Spanish finale

   Posted on 8:21am Sunday 20th Oct 2013

   Michael van der Mark finished fourth in today’s final round of the 2013 World Supersport championship season, securing fourth place in the overall standings in his rookie year.

   His Pata Honda team-mate Lorenzo Zanetti had a relatively lonely ride to fifth place, and fifth in the points table, as world champion Sam Lowes took the final race win of the year.

   Dutch flyer van der Mark took three podium finishes in his debut World Supersport campaign, while Zanetti finished on the rostrum at Monza in May. Both are enthusiastic about the forthcoming 2014 championship year which begins with a private test at Jerez on Tuesday.

   Michael van der Mark - 4th

   It was quite difficult today because it took us a while to find the right set-up for Jerez. My start wasn’t that great and I had to pass some other guys but my pace was OK. I had to catch Rolfo but he was doing really good lap times and we were quite similar. Three laps from the end I was on his rear wheel and tried to push to get even closer but I pushed a little too much and lost the front a few times. I’m happy with fourth place in the race and in the championship. The season has gone really quickly and I can’t wait for the next one to begin!

   Lorenzo Zanetti - 5th

   Fifth place is not bad but I lost a lot of time in the first three laps trying to get past Russo. When I did that, the group with Michael had gone and I needed to be there to fight for the podium. Also, towards the end of the race my rear grip dropped off and this has been a problem. I spent the rest of the race alone, which wasn’t positive. However, the season has been positive and my feeling with the bike has improved so I think we can look forward to the next season with a lot of confidence.

   Pieter Breddels – technical co-ordinator

   Michael had a race-long battle for third but the grip dropped in the last few laps which prevented him attacking for the podium. Fourth was good, though, and he finished fourth in the series in his rookie season, so we’re happy with that. He was 10 points short of third overall but I’m sure he can fight for that and more next year. Lorenzo couldn’t quite get to the pace of Michael and couldn’t get better than fifth. But he has also had a good rookie season and I think we can be satisfied with both our riders’ performances this year.